Exclusive: UNP Cover Up Effort Results In All Bond Scam Evidence Becoming Public Documents

August 2, 2015 

As a result of the petition filed by Deputy Minister Sujeewa Senasinghe, requesting an order preventing the publication or circulation of the Committee On Public Enterprises (COPE) sub-committee report on the Central Bank Bond issue, all the evidence becomes public documents and may be reported freely.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe

UPFA had filed answers last Thursday including all the evidence to show why it was necessary for the public to know the real situation. 

Colombo Telegraph has managed to obtain one document filled amongst other papers incorporate much direct evidence of the bond scam. We publish below the document in full;

The effort by the Hon Sujeeva Senasinghe to block publication of the report on the Central Bank Bond issue proved a blessing in disguise. It prompted renewed study of the actual proceedings, discussion of which had not been prevent by the Court.

The proceedings in themselves provided ample evidence that irregularities had occurred. They also make it clear that the Prime Minister was directly involved in the decision. The Governor admittied (21/6 p 1) that ‘This is the policy decision that was taken by the Hon Prime Minister’. But when he was asked whether the Prime Minister was allowed to take such decisions, he dodged the question and siply said ‘It was in the interests of the transparency of the system’.

The Monetary Board, which should take such decisions, did nothing of the sort. It was simply informed by the Governor that the Bank (ie he himself, though in accordance with the Prime Minister’s policy decision) had temporarily suspended the system of direct placements. There was no Board Paper recommending this, in contrast to what happened in 2008 when it was decided to make greater use of direct placements on the strength of a Board Paper.

The matter is the more serious in that an earlier report commissioned by the Prime Minister had claimed that ‘there is no evidence at this stage to the effect that the Governor had direct participation with regard to the activities of the DD and the Tender Board Committee as aforesaid other than to issue certain directives based on the decision of the Monetary Board and the Operational Manual of the PDD’.

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